The Great Eastern Ranges welcomed the launch of a revised edition of the widely accepted National Standards for the Practice of Ecological Restoration in Australia on 16 September 2021.
The document, which aims to raise the standard of restoration practice across all sectors, was developed by the Society for Ecological Restoration (SER) Australasia in close collaboration with other leading environmental organisations, including GER.
The practical and adaptive Standards can be applied to any terrestrial or aquatic Australian ecosystem and scale of project.
The document serves as a blueprint to guide restoration efforts and urges organisations to strive for the highest and best level of conservation outcomes possible to:
- Improve the quality of projects to restore Australian terrestrial, freshwater, and marine ecosystems.
- Encourage broader application and uptake of restoration.
- Provide accessible guidance and inspiration to help transition humanity away from degradation and towards a restorative economy and culture.
- Inform and drive the significant scaling-up of restoration efforts needed.
The new edition of the Standards, whose launch coincides with the start of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, includes updates from the international revision and other significant changes.
The Standards recognise that alongside the need to conserve, repair and renew our ecosystems lies the need to actively reduce the detrimental impacts we are having on them.
The first edition of the Standards was launched in 2016.